Toy animal, automobile, and the like propelled by the rider



I H. SEBEL 2,379,192

TOY ANIMAL AUTOMOBILE AND THE LIKE PROPELLED BY THE RIDER June 26, 1945.

Filed April 2, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet l f/VVE/VTUR Harry Sebc/ H. SEBELJune 26, 1945.

TOY ANIMAL AUTOMOBILE AND THE LIKE PROPELLED BY THE RIDER Filed April 2,1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 M W s r Z .G Mn 1 w n H H m v Patented June 26,1945 TOY ANIMAL, AUTOMOBILE, AND THE LIKE PROPELLED BY THE RIDER HarrySebel, London N. 3, England Application April 2, 1942, Serial No.437,316

In Great Britain February 28, 1942 11 Claims. (Cl. 280-117) The presentinvention relates to wheeled toys and amusement devices of the typewhich are propelled by the rider.

An object of the invention is to provide a wheeled toy for childrenwhich is propelled by muscular movement of both the body and legs of therider and thus to provide a beneficial exercise for children.

Another object of the invention is to provide an amusement devicesuitable for exercise by adults and which may be employed as anamusement device in fairground apparatus and for similar purposes.

A further object of the invention is to provide a wheeled toy oramusement device which simulates the action of a horse or other animalthere being movement of both the front and back less by an up and downmovement of the body of the rider and the fiexing of the riders legs.

A further object of the invention is to provide a wheeled apparatus ofthe type referred to which includes front and back legs mounted onwheels adapted to rotate only in a forward direction and pivot pointsfor the front pair of legs and the rear pair of legs and flexibleconnection means between these pivot points adapted to support the bodyand the legs of the rider to produce on movement of the body and legs ofthe rider a pivotal action of the legs about the pivot pointsalternately towards and away from one another to produce a forwardmotion of the apparatus.

Preferably two or more flexible connections are provided between thefront and back legs and may be constituted by spring elements or pivotedlinks and it is preferred when there are two flexible connections for atleast one of these connections to constitute a spring element whichserves to hold the toy erect.

The invention will now be described-with reference to the accompanyingdrawings in which:

Figure 1 shows a perspective view of a toy according to the presentinvention;

Figure 2 and Figure 3 show the action of this construction;

Figure 4 shows a modification of the spring mounting of the toy shown inFigure 1;

Figures 5 and 6 show diagrammatically the'action of the toy as shown inFigure 4;

Figure '7 shows a perspective view of another construction according tothe invention;

Figures 8 and 9 show the action of the toy as shown in Figure '7; and

Figures 10 and 11 show details of the construction of Figure '7;

Figure 12 shows a further. construction according to the invention, and

Figures 13 and 14 illustrate the action of the toy, as shown in Figure12.

Fig. 15 shows to an enlarged scale an arrangement for limiting rotationof the wheels to one direction.

Referring to Figure 1 a toy horse comprises a pair of front legs I and apair of rear legs 2 carried on wheels3 which are provided with a sim--ple pawl and ratchet 31, 38 (Fig; 15) so as to prevent their rotation inabackward direction. The front legs I are provided with a verticalspindle 4 which passes through a tubular bushing 5. This tubular bushinghas secured to it, conveniently by welding, the front end of asemielliptic spring 6. The attachment of this spring to the bushing 5 isreinforced by a short spring I to form a triangular mounting. The rearend of the spring 6 is welded to the top of the rear legs 2 and a saddle8 is supported on the spring 6 at or near the apex of the spring.

Also connecting the rear legs to the front portion of the apparatus is asecond elliptic spring 9 which is pivoted on a bracket Ill below thepoint of. attachment of the spring 6 to the rear legs 2 and is pivotedat its front end in a bracket H depending from the front end of thespring 6. Stirrups I 2 are secured to the spring 9 either at its lowestportion or at some point mid-way between its centre and front ends.

The spindle 4 carries a T-head l3 for steering purposes, the spindle 4being rotatable within the bushing 5. The whole apparatus may, ifdesired, be covered with suitable material to simu late a horse anda'horses head may be attached to the spindle 4 as shown in chain line inthe drawings.

The action of the toy is Shown in Figures 2 and 3. On the weight of therider being placed on the stirrups 12 as shown by the arrow in Figure 2the legs I and 2 are drawn together to the position shown. Because ofthe pawl and ratchet of the wheels 3 the front legs remain in the sameposition and the rear legs are drawn forward. On transference of theweight of the rider to the saddle 8 in the direction of the arrow shownin Figure 3 the legs I and 2 are spread as shown. Again, in view of the.pawl and ratchet wheels the rear wheels cannot move in a rearwarddirection and so the whole'movement is taken on the front legs whichmove forward a proportionate distance. In this manner by alternatelyapplying the riders weight to the stirrups and saddle the toy advancesin a series of bounds.

The apparatus shown in Figure 4 operates on similar lines only in thiscase instead of two opposed semi-elliptic springs there is employed aU-spring l5 the two ends of which are pivoted to the tubular bushing 5and the rear legs 2 are secured to the base of the spring l5. Referenceto Figures 5 and 6 will show that the action of the toy is similar tothat shown in Figure 1, weight on the stirrups serving to close thefront and back legs together and weight on the saddle serving to spreadthe legs apart. This construction is a simpler one for assembly the rearlegs 2 merely being welded to the base of the U-spring l5 and; the twoends of the spring having eyes which are supported by pins carried insuitable shackles on the tubular bushing 5.

Figure 7 shows a different construction of toy which, however, hasexactly the opposite action to those previously described with referenceto Figures 1 to 6. In this case the saddle 8 is supported on asemi-elliptic spring as in the previous embodiments, but instead of thestirrups being supported by an opposed semi-elliptic spring this springis replaced by a knuckle joint consisting of two arms l6 and I1 whichare fixedly secured to the front and rear legs and which are pivotedtogether at their inner ends at l8.

To limit the angular movement between the arms [6 and I! each of thesearms are extended beyond the pivot point If! and carry L-shaped cleatsl9 close to and on the opposite sides of the pivot point l8, whichcleats act as stop members for the extensions of the arms andso limitthe angular movement of the arm members I G and IT, in both directions.

Figure 10 shows details of the manner in which the saddle spring 6 issecured to the rear legs by means of a welded bracket 20 which alsoserves as a cross-member uniting the rear legs 2. The arm [6 is alsowelded to a similar cross-bracket 2] although in this case, of course,the arm is not pivoted as is the spring 6 but is rigidly secured. Thefront end of the spring 6 and the front end of the arm H are similarlysecured'to a U-bracket 22 which is hinged by means of a pin 23 tosupport brackets 24 and 25 which also serve as crossmembers uniting thefront legs I. A handle 26 is pivotally secured to the upper bracket 25to serve as a steering handle, the front legs, of course, beingrotatable about the pin 23. The action of the toy is shown in Figures 8and 9 and is opposite in operation to the constructions shown in Figures1 to 6. The stirrup in this case is not placed below the saddle 8 but issituated approximately mid-way between the pivot point l8 and the frontThe action of the toy is similar to the construction described above andis shown in Figures 13 and 14. Application of the weight of the rider tothe stirrups l2 pivot the legs I and 2 approximately about the points ofthe brackets 33 and 34 with a, consequential forwardmovement of thefront legs and application of the riders weight to the saddle 8 pivotsthe legs in the opposite direction with a consequential forward movementof the rear legs.

A body or covering may enclose the framework of the toy to simulate a,car, horse or other shape. Apart from the spring members where used, thelegs and other members of the framework of the toy may conveniently beconstructed out of angle iron, T-section or any other desired sectionand where possible it is found economical to weld all the joints. Thecovering may take the form of a flexible material suitably padded andcarried on a flexible framework for example a coiled or helical wireframework which may surround the saddle and stirrup supporting membersand also, if desired, the legs. Alternatively, the covering mayconstitute rigid portions, flexibly joined to allow for the action ofthe apparatus. The wheels on which the toy is mounted may be metal tyredor provided with rubber tyres, solid or pneumatic, and instead of pawland ratchet mechanism may have any other type of mechanism which willpermit them only to rotate in one direction, and the wheels may also, ifnecessary, be provided with suitable braking mechanism which may becontrolled by the rider.

Whilst the invention has been described more particularly with respectto toys suitable for children it may also be constructed for use byadults, for example, in fairground apparatus or, alternatively, forexercise purposes since most of the 40 body and leg muscles areexercised in operating legs, and comprises an adjustable stirrup inwhich a V-shaped stirrup member 21 is provided at the bottom of the Vwith a cross-bracket to form a triangular aperture. This stirrup member21 fits over a strut member 28 of T-section the base of which isprovided with a plurality of notches 29 into one of which the base ofthe V of the stirrup member 21 is placed and is kept in position by thecross bracket bearing on the head of the T.

Figure 12 shows a construction on the lines of Figures 1 to 6 only inthis case the front and back legs are flexibly connected by three springmembers. The saddle spring 8 consists of'a semi-elliptic spring but thestirrups are supported by two reversed semi-elliptic springs 30 and 3|the upper spring 30 beingshackled to the front and back legs I and Z onthe same brackets 33 and 34 as is the saddle spring 8 and the spring 3|being shackled to the front and back legs by the brack ets 35 and 36.

the apparatus of the present invention.

7 What I claim is:

1. In a wheeled toy including front and back legs supported on wheelsadapted to rotate in one direction only, in combination, a saddlesupport comprising a laterally flexible metal strip connecting the frontand back legs, a second flexible connection joining the front and backlegs disposed below the saddle support and a stirrup carried by saidsecond connection, said flexible metal strip and said second connectioncoacting to maintain said legs in spaced apart relation when the toy isnot being operated and being so arranged that alternate application ofWeight on said saddle and said stirrup causes said legs to alternatelyangle toward and away from one another to produce a progressive movementof the toy. r

2. A wheeled toy including front and back legs supported on wheelsadapted to rotate only in one direction, a saddle support comprising anupwardly bowed semi-elliptic spring connecting the front and back legsand flexible connecting means joining said front and back legs belowsaid saddle supportand a stirrup carried on said flexible connectingmeans, said semi-elliptic spring and said other flexible connectingmeans being so arranged that depression of the semielliptic springcauses the ends thereof to move apart whereby one of said wheels ismoved towards the other and depression of, the other flexible connectingmeans causes said other wheel to move away from said one wheel.

3'. A wheeled toy including front and back legs supported on wheelsadapted to rotate only in one direction, a saddle support comprising anupwardly bowed semi-elliptic spring connecting the front and back legs,flexible connecting means joining said front and back legs below saidsaddle support, a stirrup carried on said flexible connecting means andmeans for steering the front legs, said semi-elliptic spring and saidother flexible connecting means being so arranged that depression of thesemi-elliptic spring causes the ends thereof to move apart whereby thefront and back wheels are moved towards one another and depression ofthe other flexible connecting means causes the front and back wheels toseparate.

4. A wheeled toy as claimed in claim 2 wherein the flexible connectingmeans joining said front and back legs below said saddle supportcomprises a second semi-elliptic spring.

5. A wheeled toy as claimed in claim 2 wherein th flexible connectingmeans joining said front and back legs below said saddle supportcomprises a second upwardly bowed semi-elliptic spring and wherein athird but downwardly bowed semielliptic spring secured in the middle tothe second upwardly bowed semi-elliptic spring connects the front andback legs at points adjacent those at which the saddle support springconnects said legs.

6. A wheeled toy as claimed in claim 2 wherein said flexible connectingmeans joining the front -and back legs below the saddle supportcomprises a knuckle joint, the arms of said knuckle joint bein fixedlyconnected to the front and back legs, means being provided for limitingthe angular movement of the knuckle joint in both directions.

'7. A wheeled toy as claimed in claim 2 wherein the flexible connectingmeans joining said front and back legs below said saddle supportcomprises a knuckle joint, the arms of said knuckle joint being fixedlyconnected to the front and back legs, means being provided for. limitingthe angle movement of the knuckle joint in both directions and whereinthe front end of the saddle support spring and the front end of thefront arm of the knuckle joint are secured to a bracket which ispivotally connected to the front legs to permit rotation of said legsabout a substantially vertical axis to enable said toy to be steered.

8. A wheeled toy as claimed in claim 2 wherein said flexible connectingmeans joining the front and back legs below the saddle support comprisesa knuckle joint, the arms of said knuckle joint being fixedly connectedto the front and back legs and wherein L-shaped cleats ar secured to thearms of the knuckle joints which cleats engage extensions of the armsbeyond the pivot point to limit the angular movement of the knucklejoint in both directions.

9. A wheeled toy as claimed in claim 1 wherein the flexible connectionmeans comprises'a U- shaped spring having flat arms the front legs beingpivotally connected to the ends of the U-spring and the rear leg beingsecured to the base of the U-spring the upper arm of said U-spring beingadapted to receive a saddle and the lower arms being adapted to receiv astirrup.

10. In a wheeled toy including front and back legs supported on wheelsadapted to rotate in one direction only, in combination, a saddlesupport comprising a laterally flexible metal strip connecting the frontand back legs, a second flexible connection joining the front and backlegs disposed below the saddle support and a stirrup carried by saidsecond connection, said flexible metal strip and said second connectionbeing so arranged that application of weight on said saddle causes saidlegs to angle toward one another and application of weight on saidstirrup causes said legs to angle away from one another, therebyproducing progressive movement of the toy.

11. In a wheeled toy including front and back legs supported on wheelsadapted to rotate in one direction only, in combination, a saddlesupport comprising a laterally flexible metal strip connecting the frontand back legs, a second flexible connection joining the front and backlegs disposed below the saddle support and astirrup carried by saidsecond connection, said flexible metal strip and said second connectionbeing so arranged that alternate application of weight on said saddleand said stirrup causes said legs to alternately angle toward and awayfrom one another to produce a progressive movement of the toy, and saidsecond flexible connection being provided with means limiting theflexing movements thereof.

HARRY SEBEL.

